The Park Theatre opened in 1913, and was located in the Austin neighborhood, appropriately, opposite Austin Park, on Lake Street, between Austin Boulevard and Mayfield Avenue. It seated a little under 600. The Park Theatre was opened for the Simansky & Miller circuit, and was later operated by the Lynch circuit. It closed around 1953-1954, and has long since disappeared.

Take a look at the Google map link embedded in the heading at top. It places this street address right under the Laramie El station. I think the Laramie El station location was the same in ‘53 as it is today. You can see where the train stops running over the street a little ways to the west of where Google marks the address.

Well, that map is completely in error. Laramie Avenue is 5200 West, and Austin Blvd is 6000 West. Therefore, 5962 would be at Austin, not Laramie. Check a street guide if you have any questions about this.

That is indeed Lake and Austin. Before 1962 the Elevated descended to grade level just west of Laramie; the streetcar line crossed it at Pine Street and ran on the north side of the C&NW tracks to Austin. Note the waiting West Towns bus in the background, on the Oak Park side.

Car 78 was renumbered from 1781 to free up the number for a new order of buses in the early 1950s. It was scrapped within a year of this picture being taken.

To btkrefft. Thanks very much. The Park Theatre on Lake Street has been a legend in our family since the early sixties when my father would tell us that there used to be a theater in what was then an empty lot and that he used to take us to movies there when we were very young. Happy New Year.

Actually, West Town streetcars crossed Austin Boulevard at Lake Street on March 30, 1947, using temporary rails. This was due to the abandonment of West Town streetcar service and the only way the cars could reach the Suburban carbarn in North Riverside was over the tracks of the Chicago Transit Authority’s carlines.

The January 11, 1913, issue of Construction News said that the old building at 5960-62 W. Lake Street in Chicago was being demolished to make way for a moving picture theater, 45x126 feet, and seating 586. The owners of the new theater were H.T. and G. Mulligan, and the architect was William C. Miller.

My best guess on when the Park closed would be sometime between 1952 and 1954. In other words, there are streetcar pictures dated 1952 that show the theater as being open, but by the time that the last streetcar ran in May 1954, it had already been closed.